On The Fly: Top stock stories for ThursdayStocks began the session mixed on the heels of weak earnings reports from both Caterpillar (CAT) and 3M (MMM). The Nasdaq managed to spend most of the day in positive territory but joined the other averages in negative territory by mid-afternoon. Selling picked up momentum towards late afternoon, and by day’s end each of the averages were lower by more than 0.4%, with the Dow losing nearly 0.7%. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims fell to 255,000 in the week ended July 18, below the 278,000 first-time claims that were expected. The Leading Economic Indicators advanced 0.6% in June, exceeding expectations for a 0.3% increase. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index advanced for a sixth straight session, adding another 2.4%. In Europe, the Greek Parliament voted to accept creditor terms for a new bailout, though a decision on when to reopen Greek financial markets was deferred to next week. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of General Motors (GM) finished the session up 3.96% to $31.50 after reporting earnings per share above analyst expectations. Other notable names rising following earnings reports include SanDisk (SNDK), Under Armour (UA), Southwest (LUV)... Caterpillar, meanwhile, dropped $2.86, or 3.59%, to $76.90 after cutting its yearly guidance during this morning's earnings report, with the company noting a "relatively stagnant" global economy. Also lower following earnings were Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Dunkin Brands (DNKN), and Boston Scientific (BSX). MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Cigna (CI), which rose $3.29, or 2.18%, to $154.36 after the Wall Street Journal reported last night that Anthem (ANTM) is nearing a deal to acquire the company for roughly $187, representing a total transaction value of over $48B. Adding to that report, CNBC's David Faber said on Thursday morning that Anthem will announce an agreement Friday to purchase Cigna for $188 per share, at a 45% equity, 55% cash split. Also higher were shares of numerous IT security companies, with FireEye (FEYE) advancing 4.53% and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) adding 2.33% after earnings reports from security firms Fortinet (FTNT) and F5 Networks (FFIV) beat on both top and bottom lines. Fortinet and F5, meanwhile, finished Thursday's session up 10.71% and 7.75% to $46.83 and $127.68, respectively. Among the noteworthy losers following earnings was McDonald's (MCD), which edged down 0.52% to $97.10 after noting that Q2 global comparable sales fell 0.7% for the quarter, including a 2% decline in U.S. same-store sales. Also lower was Hertz (HTZ), which declined 8.53% to $16.45 following a downgrade to Underweight at Morgan Stanley, with the research firm citing increased competition from Uber and similar mobility services. INDEXES: The Dow fell 119.12, or 0.67%, to 17,731.92, the Nasdaq lost 25.36, or 0.49%, to 5,146.41, and the S&P 500 declined 12.00, or 0.57%, to 2,102.15.

Comcast reports Cable customer relationships increased by 31,000Revenue for Cable Communications increased 6.3% to $11.7B in Q2 compared to $11.0B in the second quarter of 2014, driven by increases of 10.0% in high-speed Internet, 20.4% in business services and 3.7% in video. Customer Relationships increased by 31,000 to 27.3M in Q2, a 56,000 improvement compared to the second quarter of 2014 and driven by increases in double and triple product relationships. At the end of Q2, double and triple product customers increased to 69% of total customer relationships compared to 68% in the second quarter of 2014. Video net losses improved 52% year-over-year to 69,000 and were the best result for a second quarter in nine years, while High-Speed Internet customers grew by 180,000 and Voice net additions were 49,000.

EU sends Statement of Objections to Sky, U.S. film studiosThe European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Sky UK (SKYAY) and six major U.S. film studios: Disney (DIS), NBCUniversal (CMCSA), Paramount Pictures (VIA), Sony (SNE), Twentieth Century Fox (FOXA) and Warner Bros (TWX). The Commission takes the preliminary view that each of the six studios and Sky UK have bilaterally agreed to put in place contractual restrictions that prevent Sky UK from allowing EU consumers located elsewhere to access, via satellite or online, pay-TV services available in the UK and Ireland. Without these restrictions, Sky UK would be free to decide on commercial grounds whether to sell its pay-TV services to such consumers requesting access to its services, taking into account the regulatory framework including, as regards online pay-TV services, the relevant national copyright laws. If the Commission's preliminary position were to be confirmed, each of the companies would have breached EU competition rules prohibiting anti-competitive agreements. The sending of a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. These antitrust investigations focus on contractual restrictions on passive sales outside the licensed territory in agreements between studios and broadcasters.

DISH executive says auction strategy 'complied with all legal requirements'In response to the FCC's proposal to deny roughly $3.3B in spectrum auction discounts, DISH EVP and general counsel R. Stanton Dodge stated, "We respectfully disagree with the proposed denial of the bidding credits. Our approach to the AWS-3 auction, which followed 20 years of FCC precedent and complied with all legal requirements, was intended to enhance competition -- in the auction and in the marketplace long term. Our investments in NorthStar and SNR helped make the AWS-3 auction the most successful spectrum auction in FCC history, and resulted in more than $20B of direct benefit to the American taxpayer." Reference Link

DISH customers to lose WDIV-TV Local 4WDIV-TV Local 4 is about to go dark for all DISH (DISH) TV subscribers. WDIV and its parent organization, Graham Media Group, a subsidiary of Graham Holdings (GHC), stated, "The satellite provider has been unwilling to strike a reasonable deal with the local content provider. On Wednesday, July 22 at 7 p.m. subscribers will no longer be able to watch programs like Local 4 News, NBC's Today, NBC Nightly News, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, The Voice, The Blacklist, Sunday Night Football and more. DISH charges its subscribers a monthly fee to get these programs, so essentially their estimated 127,000 Detroit area customers will not be getting what they pay for. That includes important local news and weather information in emergency situations from the Local 4 News team."

Disney's 'Ant-Man' leads U.S. weekend box office with $58MFor the weekend of July 19, Disney's (DIS) "Ant-Man" topped domestic box office charts at $58M. Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) subsidiary Universal's "Minions" landed in second place with $50.2M, while Universal's "Trainwreck" came in third with $30.2M. Disney's "Inside Out" and Universal's "Jurassic World" took fourth and fifth place at $11.7M and $11.4M, respectively. Data gathered by Rentrak.